Reflection on My Experiment during Spring Break: Opinion Essay

Electronics became a part of many lives since the 1980s, the goal was to create a new companionship. That new connection was human and machines, computers created by Apple during the 1980s, and improvements to browse the internet. Improvements were made and progressions aimed to bring machines closer to humans. The problem was how to fit this smart device into our daily lives, and that question by many computer engineers forever changed humans. That breakthrough led to a new world, one with options and abilities to keep anyone busy throughout the day. Which lead me to this experiment to test the boundaries of the human and machine companionship. I have a special connection with smart devices. Computers, cell phones, other consoles became part of my life, like many others that have the ability to use them. My life involves a smart device by my side throughout the day and ending my day with it. The world is currently being built on the foundation of learning the different capabilities of improving smart devices to the next level. I will say before I set four nights for this experiment, I had to find a special time frame that fits into our current lifestyle. I decided to do this experiment during spring break, because it offered me the best chance to do a continuous six or so hours of detoxation. To test my connection to the smart devices. How will I see time differently, and things to do when the internet is out of the picture.

Moving to March 2nd, I decided to start on Saturday and felt it was a good time to start this experiment after the midterms. A time to clear my head and spend some time away from the rest of the world. I started the experiment at 5 PM each day and ended at midnight. This time frame is usually when the outside world starts to slow down and reset for the next day. The remainder of the day would be a huge test, because the other world that was once part of my lifestyle is now on hold. The biggest obstacle was time, how can I make it to my bedtime without touching any smart devices. Time became an afterthought with smart devices, because the connection to the internet allowed distractions. One distraction lead to another shaving off time, and by the time one is done, hours passed by. To combat time, I had some goals set for spring break. I wanted to get back into lifting, an interest I had but slowly faded. This experiment allowed me to push myself back into lifting weights. I had dumbbells and weights laying around for months. Since I started this experiment at 5 PM, I was able to get back into a dedicated schedule for lifting. I would get ready at 5 PM, do my stretches and proceed to lifting. Another discovery I made during this time was where I observed time. I barely use clocks these days that hang on walls, and those tools became one of my close friends during this experiment. I would spend close to 3 hours working out at home. Time went by but I felt there was a different sensation of time, the day felt longer. There was an appreciation for time, because I was able to value the time lost spent browsing the internet. Another thing I wanted to try during this experiment was mediating and spending some time to think about life. I spent the rest of the day relaxing on the couch. Some thoughts included how much human and machine companionship changed the world. How smart devices created new lifestyles, and systems built around it. How simple functions allow us to view life in a different way. How smart devices pretty much stay connected to us, waking up and going to sleep with it being next to us. Although these smart devices changed many lives, but it allowed better communications from one land to another. Ability to solve hard problems with the ease of typing some words on a machine that fits in a pocket. I went to sleep earlier that night around 11 PM. There was a study on blue lights emitted from smart devices like computers and cellphones. Those blue lights travel differently and send different wave signals to human brains, suppressing the message to fall asleep at a set time. I was able to see different side effects from using smart devices.

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From March 3rd to 5th I followed the same routine, but there was a different feeling starting on the 3rd of March. Normally I start this experiment at 5 PM, so before that time I would use the smart devices to do some work that required them. What I experienced the next day when I woke up at 7 AM, was the catch up syndrome. That was the first time I touched my phone in about 14 hours. I had to catch up and check through all the notifications sent to me during the daily 7 hour breaks from smart devices. There was a sense of joy that I can use my smart devices before my set time for the experiment. I was able to see two different sides, one where I was trying to pass time but time goes by in a different way when I would use smart devices. I did not dread for the clock to hit the next hour. I was able to appreciate the ability to use smart devices. I was able to see why people had problems letting go of their computers or cell phones. The problem was that the current generation are being taught to use these smart devices and depend on them. This causes a problem and it is not easy to sever that relationship. Companies spent large sums of money to show that people need these devices. These devices are becoming part of school lifestyles. Before I graduated high school, the school was slowly phasing it iPads to all the classes. My graduating class missed out on the personal iPad that year, but systems are being installed in classrooms. Older methods of educating students are changing, personal devices are being loaned to students in certain schools and smart boards are slowly becoming the norm. Steve Jobs created the iPhone in 2007, his goal was to introduce the best convenient human tool. From the time I would spend on my devices, and then the remainder of the day without them. I can see why people see the human and machine relationship as a problem. People are growing up with these smart devices. The machines slowly attaches to our different lifestyles, becoming part of us. At this current time many lives revolve around the use the use of the different smart devices. The feeling of being overly attached to objects can be a problem to people who can't balance certain lifestyles.

Reflecting back on this experiment, I would agree smart devices impact human identities. Those smart devices bring out the different sides of humans. Sometimes it can make a person happy and other times angry. I felt lost at times during the experiment, because my cell phone became a part of me. A part of my lifestyle over many years building that human and machine relationship. That special relationship is hard to sever, because societies are spending years to introduce people to those technology. My life depends on those smart devices, similarly the devices depend on me to use them. Humans learned to co-exist with the smart devices. There might be some negatives in that relationship between humans and machines, but technology created unmatched opportunities. Many abilities that were once a dream became a reality. The amount of power from the smart devices left an impactful imprint. I don’t believe there is an addiction problem. The goal of this type of technology was to open a new unique lifestyle for humans. I would say this is a special current technological culture, that only a selective amount of people can understand.